Vuelta a España 2022

Stage 2 – ‘s-Hertogenbosch > Utrecht (175.1km)

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Vuelta a España 2022 Stage 2 Profile

Stage 1 Result

1st Jumbo-Visma (11/10F)

2nd Ineos Grenadiers (9/2)

3rd Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl (11/8)

Stage 1 Bets

1pt win Ineos Grenadiers @9/2 – 2nd

A dominant win by the favourites, 13secs ahead of Ineos. Luckily, the rain stayed away and we got through it without any spills. On to the sprinters.

Stage 2 Preview

This first road stage – as well as the final stage in the Netherlands on Sunday – should be fought out by the sprinters. It’s a largely flat course with just a small fourth-category climb in the middle. However, at an average of just 2.4% the ‘climb’ is little more than a glorified speed bump for these guys and inserted purely so we can declare a leader in the mountains competition.

We’re not far off the North Sea coast so strong crosswinds are possible and teams will have to be vigilant, but there’s a small return on predicted echelons followed by actual echelons so we’ll have to see. If it does end in a bunch sprint, the final looks uncomplicated – there’s a sweeping left with 500m to go, otherwise it’s straight and flat to the line.

Stage 2 Contenders

In a bid to make the racing more exciting, there’s a growing trend for Grand Tour organisers not to have too many completely flat days that, whilst suiting the purest of sprinters, can be a little dull for the viewer. And so it is again here with only three designated flat stages – these first two in the Netherlands and then the final one in Madrid – devoid of any tricky lumps and bumps. Which perhaps explains why the sprinters that have shown up are all pretty decent over more difficult terrain – they’ll need those skills to carve out more opportunities over the three weeks.

But this one should be won by the fastest man on the startlist and that appears to be Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Tim Merlier. The Belgian road race champion is going for a complete set of Grand Tour wins having won at both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in 2021. Merlier was last seen out at the European Championships where he maybe launched a little early and got overturned by Fabio Jakobsen – no shame in that and he still showed decent speed. He lost part of his leadout with Oscar Riesebeek crashing on a training ride on Thursday which isn’t ideal, but the Belgian still has to be the favourite and is a best-priced 6/4.

In those same European Championships last week, UAE Team Emirates’ Pascal Ackermann took a heavy fall against the barriers and looked as if he’d done damage to his wrist or forearm. He’s here though so we can only guess how much that is affecting him, and prior to that he was in decent enough nick with a win at the Tour of Poland. He has Juan Sebastián Molano and Ivo Oliveira for support in a squad built around GC hopes but he knows how to get the job done having won two Vuelta stages in 2020.

Since winning on the Champs-Élysées and taking home the green jersey at the Tour de France, it's been a tough couple of years for Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sam Bennett. There was a falling-out with his bosses at Quick-Step – for which he appeared entirely blameless – followed by a switch to Bora, who promptly reinvented themselves as a GC team and denied Bennett opportunities in the big races. He was overlooked for this year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France so it’s great to see him get his chance here. There have been glimmers of a return to form with top fives in Poland and the European Championships and he has an excellent leadout man in Danny van Poppel, but the 9/2 about him is too short for me.

It's been a bit of a breakout season for BikeExchange-Jayco’s young Aussie sprinter Kaden Groves with wins at the Tour of Turkey and Volta a Catalunya. However, he wasn’t able to show his best last time out at the Tour of Poland which was affected by a lot of messy, crash-marred sprints so it’s difficult to know where his form is at. The 10/1 is tempting as there’s no doubt he’s fast and there are question marks over others ahead of him in the market.

Another man to watch is Intermarché-Wanty’s Gerben Thijssen who took a surprise win in Poland. Though it’s difficult to know what to take out of those sketchy sprints, he’s definitely one on the upturn.

Whilst his dreams of a home stage win or yellow jersey in the Grand Départ in Denmark didn’t play out, Trek-Segafredo’s Mads Pedersen still had an excellent Tour de France, finally getting his win from a breakaway on stage 13. Has he carried that form forward? He only returned to racing last week in the European Championships where he finished 10th. The Dane has been installed at just 11/2 which, given that others probably carry more pure speed, doesn’t appeal.

Sprints often don’t turn out as you expect and luck certainly plays a part, but it’s difficult to see past Merlier for this one.